Systems and methods for implementing efficient cross-fading between compressed audio streams

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are presented for efficient cross-fading of compressed domain information streams on a user/client device. Exemplary systems may provide cross-fade between AAC/Enhanced AAC Plus information streams, between MP3 information streams, or between information streams of unmatched formats. These systems are distinguished in that cross-fade is directly applied to compressed bitstreams so a single decode operation is performed on the resulting bitstream. Thus, a set of frames from each input stream associated with the time interval in which a cross fade is decoded, and combined and recoded with a cross fade or other effect now in the compressed bitstream. Once sent through the client device&#39;s decoder, the user hears the transitional effect. The only input data that is decoded and processed is that associated with the portion of each stream used the crossfade, blend or other interstitial, and thus the vast majority of input streams are left compressed.

CROSS-REFERENCED TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Nos. 61/687,048, filed on Apr. 17, 2012 entitled SYSTEMS ANDMETHODS FOR IMPLEMENTING EFFICIENT CROSS-FADING BETWEEN COMPRESSED AUDIOSTREAMS, and 61/687,049, filed on Apr. 17, 2012 entitled SERVER SIDECROSSFADE FOR PROGRESSIVE DOWNLOAD MEDIA, the disclosure of each whichis hereby fully incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to digital media delivery and playback,and in particular to systems and methods for implementing cross-fading,interstitials and other effects/processing of two or more media elementson a downstream device so as to replicate to the extent possible thefeel, sound and flow of broadcast programming or “DJ” (disc jockey)enhanced playlists.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Media delivery has historically been a broadcast type model, whereusers/consumers all receive the same programming. Thus, any effects,cross-fades or other blending are performed upstream of the consumingdevice, prior to being sent over the broadcast channel(s). As isgenerally appreciated, the addition of these effects produces a highquality experience for the user, and also provides natural and enhancedtransitions between program elements. These enhancements improve andenrich the listening experience, and can be changed or modifieddepending upon the “mood” of the sequence of songs or clips beingplayed, as well as upon the audience type, time of day, and channelgenre. Typically, elements that require cross-fading or other signalprocessing of two or more elements require precise synchronization andsimultaneous playback of the elements to be processed. Thus, although inthe 1960s and 1970s DJs would try to mix songs in real time, by “cueingup” the next song and starting its turntable a bit before the currentlybeing played song ended, with the advent of digital media it has beenthe norm to perform such processing on a playlist of multiple songs orclips prior to broadcasting it, storing it at the media broadcaster'sservers, and then sending it over the broadcast signal.

With the introduction of media compression and file based delivery,media is commonly downloaded directly to a user's device, such as, forexample, an iPod, digital media player, MP3 player, PC, tablet, cellularphone, etc., without the benefit of upstream processing betweenelements. This leads to a less satisfactory user experience uponconsumption or playback. A user simply hears one song stop, then hears abrief pause, then hears the next song begin. There is no “awareness” bythe media playing device as to what the sequence is, no optimizations asto which song most naturally follows another, and each sequence of mediaclips is, in general unique to each user and how they organize theirplaylists.

Additionally, many consumer type devices, cell phones, etc. do not havethe capability to perform simultaneous decode and presentation of mediaand elements so that they can be cross-faded or processed in real time.Such devices, e.g., cell phones, typically have a single hardwaredecoder per media type, so that any type of cross-fade in real timewould also require additional software based decoding for otherelements, which (i) has negative impact on battery life, and (ii) wouldrequire the precise synchronization of two or more decoders.

What is needed in the art are systems and methods to implement andfacilitate cross-fading, interstitials and other effects/processing oftwo or more media elements on a downstream device directly in thecompressed bitstream domain in a manner that solves the problems of theprior art.

What is further needed in the art are methods to perform such processingof compressed bitstreams which may be in differeing compression formats.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram for a simple (inefficient) crossfade oftwo compressed streams;

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for an exemplary efficient crossfade oftwo compressed streams in the compressed domain according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts exemplary codec packet header information used forinter-stream synchronization according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 depicts exemplary logic for determining the time aligned packetindices for two streams during a cross-fade or other process;

FIG. 5 presents an overview of the Enhanced AAC Plus decoder;

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary overview of a composite compressed packetsynthesis scheme for Enhanced AAC Plus Streams according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary power-complementary smooth cross-fade windowof order 3 maximizing the duration of a dominant stream, used inexemplary embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 8 depicts an AAC Core Stereo Bitstream Packet Format;

FIG. 9 depicts synthesis of the AAC component of a composite packetaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 depicts exemplary decision logic for the synthesis of an SBRcomponent of the composite packet according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 11 depicts exemplary decision logic for the synthesis of an PScomponent of the composite packet according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention; and

FIG. 12 depicts a high level embodiment of a scheme for the MP3 codecaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods are presented for efficient cross-fading (or othermultiple clip processing) of compressed domain information streams on auser or client device, such as, for example, a telephone or smart phone,tablet, computer or MP3 player, or any consumer device with audioplayback. Exemplary implementation systems may provide cross-fade or thelike between AAC/Enhanced AAC Plus (“EAACPlus”) information streams or,for example, between MP3 information streams, or even betweeninformation streams of unmatched formats (e.g. AAC to MP3 or MP3 toAAC). Furthermore, these systems may be distinguished by the fact thatcross-fade can be directly applied to the compressed bitstreams so thata single decode operation may be performed on the resulting bitstream.Moreover, using the methods described herein, those skilled in the artcan also advantageously implement similar cross fade (or otherprocessing/effects) between information streams utilizing other formatsof compression such as, for example, MP2, AC-3, PAC, etc.

As indicated in FIG. 1, a simple, although inefficient, scheme for crossfade between two streams works by fully decoding each information stream(Compressed Clip1 and Compressed Clip2 110 and 120) to first obtainlinear PCM time domain waveforms for each of the streams 140, which canthen be combined, for example, using suitable time varying weightingfunctions to generate a final output waveform 165 for playback. Thissimple cross-fade scheme however can only be implemented on playerswhere either two parallel decoding paths can be implemented or, asdescribed in PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/65943, filed on Nov.19, 2012, entitled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPLEMENTING CROSS-FADING,INTERSITITALS AND OTHER EFFECTS DOWNSTREAM (the “Cross-FadeApplication”), under common assignment herewith, and fully incorporatedherein by this reference, which describes various parameters and typesof crossfades and other effects, where faster than real time decoding isavailable such that packets from the initial portions of the secondstream may be pre-fetched and decoded. Often this may not be practical.For example, in portable players with only a single hardware decoder,the hardware decoder may not be fast enough to perform full decoding oftwo streams during the cross-fade window of 1 sec or more. Moreover,dual decoding, even for a limited time, generally entails a battery lifepenalty.

Therefore, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention, an efficient compressed domain cross-fade scheme isdescribed. An overview of this scheme is illustrated in FIG. 2. One keyexemplary method used in exemplary embodiments of the present inventionto achieve efficient cross-fade between two or more information streamsis to examine time aligned compressed packets from different streams,and assemble a composite compressed packet containing informationderived from the two streams which can then be presented to an audiodecoder during the cross-fade phase. The input to the single decoder canbe provided by a multiplexer that alternatively picks up compressedpackets from three possible sources, i.e. the first stream, thecomposite stream, and the second stream. An associated new method usedin such exemplary embodiments is to achieve time alignment of thecomposite packets by examining header information found in typicalcompressed audio packets which describes their time duration as well asany packet jitter present in the stream due to, for example, variablebit rate and/or bit reservoir operation of the audio compressionalgorithm.

The operation of creating composite packets can, for example, beperformed using a fraction of the computational complexity normallyneeded for the full audio decoding of the packet. Furthermore, it shouldbe obvious to those skilled in the art that the mechanism of compositepacket creation may be turned off during most of the time that theplayback of a track is in progress and no cross-fade is being attempted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, systems and methodsare provided in which cross-fading (or other processing/effects) ofmultiple information streams may be accomplished directly in thecompressed bitstream domain at a client end, in accordance withinstructions that can be provided from an upstream service. Suchinstructions can, for example, reflect a combination of (i) theinformation clips or streams, (ii) the device on which the cross-fade isto occur, and its various parameters and capabilities, and (iii) thetiming information for the cross-fade operation.

In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, such systems andmethods can, for example, perform such processing of compressedbitstreams even where they are in differing compression formats.

For the purposes of this disclosure, the terms “stream” and “clip” shallbe used interchangeably. In exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention, various cross-fading algorithms can be implemented as abitstream multiplexer that multiplexes (i) compressed packets from afirst stream, (ii) output of a composite synthesized packet generatorunit, and (ii) compressed packets from a second stream, to create asingle stream of packets which can then, for example, be presented to anaudio decoder, for example a hardware decoder, for efficient decodingand subsequent playback. Such exemplary embodiments can include a“Packet Time Alignment” unit that can, for example, identify timealigned packet pairs, each pair consisting of one packet from each ofthe two streams. As described below, time alignment of multiplecompressed streams can be achieved by examining header informationcontained in the compressed packet and mapping it to the cross-fadestart and end times, t=T₁ and t=T₂, respectively. The timing informationcan, for example, be forwarded to the Packet Time Alignment (“PTA”) unitfrom a “Cross-Fade Controller” (“CFC”) unit which can either take thisinformation as an input from an upstream system component, or can, forexample, generate it locally based on stored defaults and/or userpreferences of the playback device. In the latter case, T₁ may, forexample, be set to a time instant 1 second prior to the end of stream 1,and T₂ can correspond, for example, to the end of Stream 1. Thus, thecompressed audio packet from Stream 1 which generates audio closest tothe point in time at {t_(stream 1 END)−1 sec} can be paired with the1^(st) packet of Stream 2 by the “Packet Time Alignment” unit, andthereafter contiguous subsequent packets from the two streams can, forexample, be respectively paired with each other.

In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the packet-pairsgenerated by the PTA unit can be fed into a “Synthesized PacketGeneration” unit along with the relative weights of the two streams atevery given instance in the time window T₁≤t≤T₂. The relative weightscan, for example, also be generated by a “Cross-Fade Controller”, onceagain, using either information supplied, for example, by (i) anupstream component, or (ii) generated from local user preferences, ordefaults specific to a particular channel, or to a particularpersonalized channel and a particular user, or any combination thereof.

FIG. 2 depicts a high level system view of such an exemplary efficientcompressed domain cross-fade scheme. With reference thereto, packetsfrom Clip1 210, and Clip2 230, along with the output of the “SynthesizedComposite Packet Generation” Unit 250, can be fed into packetmultiplexer 260, to generate a multiplexed stream. The multiplexedstream 265 can then be fed to Audio Decoder 270, to produce a PCM FinalAudio Waveform 275 for playback to a user. “Cross-Fade Controller”(“CFC”) 240 accepts cross-fade timing and preference information, asnoted above, either from upstream components, or from locally storeddata, or, as noted, from user preferences or behavior, or anycombination thereof, and can provide control information to SynthesizedComposite Packet Generation Unit 250 and “Packet Time Alignment” unit(“PTA”) 220, which in turn provides the above described paired-packetinput to Synthesized Composite Packet Generation unit 250 and to PTA220.

It is noted that the cross-fade timing and preference informationreceived by CFC 240 can comprise various parameters for implementing acrossfade, including, for example, audio trajectory, fade or blend type,number of elements in the effect (e.g., 2, 3 or more, for complexvoice-overs and other transitions), volume/attenuation levels for eachcomponent or element during the cross fade, intro and outro points, etc.Such parameters can, for example, be stored in CFC 240, or in some otherdata structure or memory location, and can be passed via messagingprotocols to CFC 240, and/or can be modified/updated by inferences fromuser behavior on the client device and sent via a message protocol toCFC 240 on the server side. In this context reference is made to theCross-Fade Application referenced above, which describes variousparameters and types of crossfades and other effects. The Cross-FadeApplication is hereby incorporated herein by this reference. Effectivelyany crossfade or other effect that can be performed, as described in theCross-Fade Application can be implemented using techniques according tothe present invention.

An exemplary embodiment of an efficient compressed domain cross-fadescheme is next described in detail in the context of the commonly usedEnhanced AAC Plus (“EAAC Plus”) compression format. EAAC Plus is apopular format for audio streaming over the Internet and mobilenetworks, and it provides higher quality at lower bit rates whencompared to other compression formats such as, for example, MP3 or MP2.Enhanced AAC Plus is an international standard adopted by the MotionPicture Experts Group (MPEG), as ISO/IEC 14496-3:2005—Informationtechnology—Coding of audio-visual objects—Part 3: Audio, and also the3GPP mobile standards. EAAC Plus is itself based on a core audio codingstandard ACC, ISO/IEC 13818-7:2006—Information technology—Generic codingof moving pictures and associated audio information—Part 7: AdvancedAudio Coding (AAC).

It is noted, however, that exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention are all applicable to general audio coding principles andknow-how, and as such, are readily extendible to other audio codecformats such as, for example, MP3, MP2, etc. The presentation hereinusing EAAC Plus being exemplary only, and not limiting in any way. Thus,also explained below are exemplary embodiments of systems implementingcompressed domain cross-fades between two MP3 information streams, forexample, and between, for example, a MP3 stream and a second AAC stream.

It is noted that audio compression codecs are generally inherentlyvariable bit rate (“VBR”) in nature. Thus, an information packet of avariable size can be generated for each consecutive chunk of audiocovering a fixed time span. For example, an AAC codec can encode CDquality stereo audio sampled at 44,100 Hz using a frame length of 1024stereo PCM samples. Therefore, if it is operating at 64 kbps, it willproduced a variable size compressed audio packet for each consecutive1024 input samples, whose length on average is equal to 185.76 bytes.The fixed length time window of 1024 samples is thus typically referredto as the frame length of the encoder. On the other hand, the framelength of the Enhanced AAC Plus codec is generally 2048 samples. For thepurposes of transmission a variable size packet representing each frameis further encapsulated in a transport format which typically adds avariable size header to the front of each packet. For streamingapplications one such encapsulation format for AAC/EAAC Plus packets is,for example, the ADTS encapsulation format, which was initiallyformalized in the context of MPEG2 but continues to be popular withMPEG4 AAC/EAAC Plus formats.

Next described is an illustrative embodiment of a Packet Time Alignmentscheme for AAC/EAAC Plus streams using the information contained in theADTS header. All modern audio codecs have similar information in theirpacket headers which can be advantageously utilized for packet timealignment of streams in these formats. FIG. 3 illustrates the fixedlength and variable length fields found in an ADTS header. The followingfour ADTS fields can, for example, be utilized for estimating the timeinstance of a particular packet in exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention:

sampling_frequency_index; frame_length; adts_buffer_fullness; andnumber_of_raw_data_blocks_in_frame.

These are pointed to by the arrows shown in FIG. 3 for easyidentification. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, thetime instance for the (i+1)^(th) EAAC Plus frame (in seconds withrespect to the start of the clip) can be estimated as:

t(i+1)=(i*2048*number_of_raw_data_blocks_in_frame)/sampling_frequency

Because the number_of_raw_data_blocks_in_frame value may change fromframe to frame, a more accurate estimate for the start time may bearrived at by, for example, keeping a cumulative estimate of the totalnumber of raw data blocks till the i^(th) frame, as follows:

${{total\_ number}{\_ of}{\_ raw}{\_ data}{\_ blocks}{\_ in}{\_ frame}_{i}} = {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{k = i}{{number\_ of}{\_ raw}{\_ data}{\_ blocks}{\_ in}{\_ frame}_{k}}}$

and estimating:

${t\left( {i + 1} \right)}^{\prime} = \frac{\left( {2048*{total\_ number}{\_ of}{\_ raw}{\_ data}{\_ blocks}{\_ in}{\_ frame}_{i}} \right)}{sampling\_ frequency}$

As is illustrated in FIG. 4, the first packet in Stream 1 that ismodified for the purpose of cross-fade has an index l₀′ 440 such thatt(l₀′−1)<T₂ and t(l₀′−1)≥T₁ where, as shown in FIG. 1, T₁ and T₂ are thebeginning and ending times of a cross fade or other multi-elementprocess. This packet can, for example, be paired with the first packetfrom Stream 2 for generating composite packets for cross-fade.

As shown, FIG. 4 provides exemplary logic for determining the timealigned packet indices for two streams during cross-fade. Thus, withreference to FIG. 4, at 410 process flow begins, and cross-fade durationinformation can be obtained from the cross-fade controller (“CFC”) (240in FIG. 2). Then, at 420, the number of compressed packets (N)undergoing cross-fade can be estimated using “sampling frequency index”,“frame length” and “number_of_raw_data_blocks_in_frame” fields of thepacket header, as shown in FIG. 3.

At 430 an initial estimate (l₀) for the first packet of Stream 1 to becross-faded with packet 1 of Stream 2 can be made, and at 440 thisestimate may be refined by considering the variation of“number_of_raw_data_blocks_in_frame” over time, to obtain revisedestimate l₀′. Finally, at 450, cross-fading of packets can be performedby cross-fading the i^(th) packet of Stream 1 with the j^(th) packet ofStream 2 where: i=l₀′+1, l₀′+2, . . . , l₀′+N and J=1, 2, . . . , N.

In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, in order to generatecomposite compressed packets using packets from two streams in the EAACPlus format, various functional sub-components of the packets need to beanalyzed and handled independently. FIG. 5 shows an overview of the EAACPlus decoder. As can be seen with reference thereto, the decoderconsists of 3 main functional blocks: AAC Core Decoder 510, SBR Decoder520, and Parametric Stereo Synthesis 530. The core AAC decoder component510 of the codec may encode the detailed spectral information in thefrequency domain using a Modified Discrete Cosine Transform (MDCT), forexample. The spectral information can be quantized by the encoder usinga Psychoacoustic Model (PM), and the utilized quantization levelsderived from the PM can also be made available to the decoder. Thesecond block, SBR Decoder 520 can involve a bandwidth extensiontechnique used to generate high frequency components in the signalefficiently, by using the low-frequency baseband information and a smallamount of side information.

Thus, SBR decoder 520 operates by first analyzing the time domain signalgenerated by core AAC decoder 510 using (i) an oversampled QMFfilterbank 521. Next (ii) frequency mapping operations 523 such as, forexample, copying from lower bands to the higher bands can be applied,followed by (iii) time-frequency envelope adjustment 525, usinginformation from the SBR bitstream. A final QMF synthesis 550 can alsobe considered as part of the SBR decoder, although it may be appliedsubsequent to the Parametric Stereo decoding 530 (described below). WhenSBR is in use (e.g., at bit rates of 64 kbps or lower), the core AACportion of the codec can advantageously encode only the lower half ofthe frequency spectrum or less, since the higher frequencies are moreefficiently encoded using the SBR technique. In fact, in exemplaryembodiments of the present invention, 2048 stereo samples in a frame canbe low pass filtered and down-sampled to generate 1024 stereo sampleswhich can then, for example, be coded using the core AAC block. Thethird major functional tool in EAACPlus, called Parametric Stereo (PS)coding 530, is generally used at bit rates below 32 kbps, and is atechnique for efficient parametric coding of the stereo information.Thus, a system implementing cross-fade in the compressed domain for anEAACPlus stream can, for example, include methods for combining (foreach packet pair) (i) core AAC components, (ii) SBR components, and(iii) PS components.

An exemplary preferred embodiment of a composite compressed packetgeneration scheme for the EAAC Plus algorithm is shown in FIG. 6. Theexemplary implementation is based on a relatively well known audioperception principle that during cross-fade overall quality is drivenprimarily by the dominant signal at any given time. Therefore, inexemplary embodiments of the present invention, all efforts can be madeto preserve the quality of the dominant sound during composite packetgeneration. The main role of the lower level (softer) signal can thuscreate an impression for the listener that a secondary signal that iseither being faded out or faded in is also present. Therefore, onlycertain important components from the lower level signal can be selectedand injected into an exemplary composite packet. This serves the dualpurpose of keeping the overall audio quality high while at the same timekeeping the complexity low.

Another important consideration in maintaining audio quality during across-fade is the shape of the Fade In and Fad Out functions. Variousshapes for the cross-fade functions such as linear, logarithmic, orraised-cosine have been employed in the past. In exemplary embodimentsof the present invention a pair of power-complementary cross-fadewindows with high level of time localization can be used. This so calledorder 3 power-complementary window, shown in FIG. 7 for example, hasgood frequency selectivity while at the same time being moreconcentrated towards the ends in comparison to other popular cross-fadefunctions. The specific shape of a given order 3 power-complementarywindow ensures that the fraction of the time during a cross-fade forwhich the first or the second stream signal is dominating (in perceivedloudness) is higher. A can be seen in FIG. 7, there is effectivelyalways a dominant signal except at the crossover point. Thus, as shownin FIG. 6, at 610 the exemplary embodiment of the composite EAACPluspacket creation mechanism can receive a sequence of paired packets forthe two streams from the Packet Time Alignment (“PTA”) unit, and therelative weights of the two streams at any given time from theCross-Fade Controller. The CFC then can, for example, use an order 3power-complementary transition window shape, as shown, for example, inFIG. 7, in generating these weights.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 6, in exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention packet pairs P(1,i) and P(2,j) can, for example, asshown at 620, both be partially demultiplexed to identify threesubcomponents, i.e., the (i) AAC Core, (ii) SBR, and (iii) PS componentsof each of these, and the respective subcomponents can then, forexample, be combined to generate the composite subcomponents as shown at631, 635 and 637, respectively. In exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention, different combination strategies can be used for the threesubcomponents. Thus, for the SBR and PS subcomponents, basically an A/Bdecision can be made favoring the dominating stream at any giveninstance, while for the AAC Core subcomponent, a more complexcombination algorithm can, for example, be employed as shown at 631.Finally, for example, the composite subcomponent packets can be combinedat 640 to produce a full composite bitstream packet 650. Thus, inexemplary embodiments of the present invention a set of frames can beobtained from each input stream associated with the time interval inwhich a cross fade is decoded, and combined and re-encoded with a crossfade or other effect now in the compressed bitstream. Once sent througha client device's decoder, the user can hear the transitional effect.The only input data that is decoded and processed need be thatassociated with the portion of each stream used in the crossfade, blendor other interstitial, and thus the vast majority of the input streamsmay be left compressed, thus saving decompression processing for onlythose portions of the signal where it is actually needed.

Next described is an exemplary combination method for each of thesubcomponents in detail.

Focusing on the AAC Core combination first, it is useful to take acloser look at the structure of the AAC Core bitstream packet format, asshown in FIG. 8. With reference thereto, the AAC Core packet contains(in addition to header information) stereo coding followed by, for eachof the two audio channels, a global gain, sectioning data, scalefactordata, TNS data, and finally, Huffman coded spectral information. In AACcoding the two audio channels Left and Right are typically coded in thefrequency domain in so called scalefactor bands, which represent agrouping of 1024 frequency lines in up to 36 bands. For each scalefactorband a stereo coding decision can be made to decide if the informationis transmitted as Left/Right or Sum/Difference (a process called“matrixing”) and these matrixed channels can then, for example, bequantized using scalefactor derived quantizer step sizes. The quantizedcoefficients can then be entropy coded using, for example, Huffmancoding which uses an adaptive codebook. The codebook selection isadaptive for each “section” spanning one or more scalefactor bands, andthe boundaries of sections are themselves adaptive and indicated by thesectioning information in the bitstream. Thus, a composite packetgeneration scheme for the AAC core needs to combine all theseinformation components, as next described.

Core Concepts Used in Exemplary Implementation/AAC Core Composite PacketGeneration

Next described in general, and with reference to FIG. 9, are variouscore functionalities and concepts that can be used in an exampleimplementation of an AAC Core combination according to exemplaryembodiments of the present invention. The main guiding principle, asnoted above, in this exemplary implementation, is an attempt to preservethe quality of the dominant stream while including a listenerrecognizable signature of the non-dominant stream into the combinedpackets so that the listener tangibly hears that one clip is fading outand that a second clip is fading in. Exemplary methods for generatingvarious components of the combined AAC packet are summarized below:

-   -   (a) stereo coding information is preserved from the dominant        channel such that for any scalefactor band that the dominant        channel uses Sum/Diff coding, the composite packet also has        Sum/Diff coding, and any scalefactor band for which the dominant        channel has Right/Left coding, the composite packet also has        Right/Left coding;    -   (b) Global gain for both the channels is taken from the dominant        channel;    -   (c) Sectioning information flattened for both channels; replace        the sectioning information by an idealized sectioning        information in which each scalefactor band is in a section of        its own and the codebook selection is changed to a so called        Escape codebook which is capable of encoding any integer value;        this allows maximum flexibility in terms of combining the        quantized coefficients from the two channels. It is noted that        this process of flattening the sectioning information can        inflate the size of the packet, but since the packets are        already on the decoder/player (client device) a temporary change        in bit rates is not seen as a serious issue;    -   (d) scalefactors can be taken directly from the dominant stream        for both channels; and    -   (e) quantized spectral coefficients can be combined as shown in        Table 1 provided below. Four combinations are possible depending        upon the Sum/Diff coding mode of the dominant and non-dominant        channels respectively:

TABLE 1 Case Coding Description Combination Strategy 1 Dominant hasSum/Diff Modify Sum of dominant using Sum of and non-dominant alsonon-dominant has Sum/Diff 2 Dominant has Sum/Diff Do a rough estimate tosee if Right or and non-dominant has Left of non-dominant has higherenergy Right/Left and use that to modify Sum of dominant 3 Dominant hasRight/ Use the corresponding Right or Left of Left and non-dominantnon-dominant to modify Right or Left also has Right/Left of Dominant 4Dominant has Right/ Use Sum from non-dominant to modify Left andnon-dominant Right and Left of dominant. has Sum/Diff

In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, once anidentification of the modifying and modified spectral components fromrespectively the non-dominant and dominant streams, respectively, hasbeen made, a modified quantized spectral coefficient can be efficientlyestimated as follows:

${X_{2}^{requant}(k)} = {{{❘{X_{2}(k)}❘}\left\lbrack {{{sign}\left( {X_{2}(k)} \right)} + {{{sign}\left( {X_{1}(k)} \right)}\left( \frac{❘{X_{1}(k)}❘}{❘{X_{2}(k)}❘} \right)^{\frac{4}{3}}}} \right\rbrack}^{\frac{3}{4}}2^{{- \frac{1}{4}}{({{scf1} - {{scf}2} - {{glbgain}1} + {{glbgin}2}})}}}$

where the above equation is derived from the shape of the AACquantizers. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that inexemplary embodiments the arithmetic may be efficiently implementedusing lookup tables.

Exemplary Decision Logic for SBR Subcomponent Synthesis

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary decision algorithm for the selection of SBRinformation from the two packets for use in a composite packet. Asdescribed above, SBR information can be taken directly from the dominantstream, and as such, does not need to be combined. However the situationis somewhat complicated by the fact that SBR may use inter-frame codingand it may not be possible to switch an SBR component from Stream 1 toStream 2 at any random frame. Therefore, once for any given packet adecision has been taken to start using SBR information from Stream 2,for example, the actual process of using SBR components from Stream 2must wait till a SBR reset frame is encountered. In a typical EAAC Plusstream the frequency of SBR reset may range from 1-10 frames. Details ofan exemplary SBR switch algorithm which takes the SBR reset into accountare thus shown in FIG. 10.

With reference thereto, the following processing can occur. Beginning at1010, set SBR NB Selection=Stream 1, and set SBR Switch Schedule=OFF.Then at 1020, for each time instance t=t₀, Obtain Stream 1 Packet i andStream 2 Packet j SBR Components, and obtain weights of Streams 1&2 fromCross-Fade Controller (“CFC”). Next, at 1030, query if SBR NBSelection=Stream 2.

If yes, process flow moves to 1060, and processing can output Stream 1OR Stream 2 SBR sub-packet based on A/B selection state. From there, at1065 excessive tonal components can be reduced, and at 1070, processingcan output SBR Component for time t=t₀. Then from 1060, process flowreturns to 1020, for the next instance.

On the other hand, if at 1030 the answer is no, then at 1035 it can bequeried if SBR switch is scheduled. If yes, at 1040, it can be furtherqueried if j SBR is a reset frame. If yes, and it is a reset frame,then, for example, at 1045 the SBR NB Selection can be set as=Stream2,and process flow can continue to 1060, as described above.

If, on the other hand, at 1035 the answer is no, and SBR switch is NOTscheduled, then at 1050 it can be further queried if the weight ofStream 2>Stream 1. If yes, at 1055, SBR Switch can be scheduled to beStream 2, and processing can end. If no at 1050, then processingcontinues to 1060, as described above.

Exemplary Decision Tree for PS Subcomponent Synthesis

FIG. 11 depicts exemplary decision logic for synthesizing the PSinformation. Unlike the SBR components, where, as noted above, care mustbe taken related to SBR reset, PS information can, for example, bedirectly obtained from the dominant component. With reference thereto,the following processing can occur. Beginning at 1110 processing can setPS NB Selection to =Stream 1. Then, at 1120, for example, for each timeinstance t=t₀, processing can obtain Stream 1 Packet i and Stream 2Packet j PS components, and obtain the weights of Streams 1&2 from theCross-Fade Controller, as above. From there, at 1130, processing canquery if PS A/B selection is equal to Steam 2. If yes, at 1160,processing can output Stream 1 or Stream 2 PS sub-packet based on the NBselection state, and at 1170 processing can, for example, output PScomponent for time t=t₀. If, on the other hand, the answer at 1130 isno, then a further query can be made at 1140, namely, is the weight ofStream 2>the weight of Stream 1. If yes, then flow can move to 1150, andthe PS NB selection can be set to Stream 2. Then process flow cancontinue to 1160, as shown, and also to 1120, for the next instance. Ifno at 1140, then process flow can, for example, continue directly to1160, and processing may output Stream 1 or Stream 2 PS sub-packet basedon NB selection state, as above. From 1160 process flow moves to 1170,as above, and also to 1120, for the next instance.

In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, using combinationtechniques as described above in the context of EAAC Plus algorithms, itis similarly possible to effect a compressed domain cross fade betweentwo MP3 streams, for example, or a mix of different type of codecoutputs, such as, for example, one stream being in EAAC Plus and anotherone in MP3 format.

Server Side Implementation

In exemplary embodiments of the present invention a compressed domaincross-fade scheme as described above can also be advantageouslyimplemented on the server side in a music or other contentdelivery/distribution system. In such case a final cross-faded streamcombining compressed packets from Stream 1, composite packets associatedwith the time duration of the cross fade, and Stream 2 packets are sentto the receiver as a single stream for decode and playback. Such serverside cross fade scheme may use algorithms as described above, e.g. whenthe EAAC Plus algorithm is in use, or may take a somewhat modifiedapproach because when the compressed domain cross-fade is implemented atthe server side it may be less important to minimize the complexity ofthe partial decode (since a server in general has more processingresources than a decoder implemented in a portable player), but rather amore important consideration may be to minimize any potential loss inaudio quality that may result from fully decoding the two streams andthen re-encoding a stream combined in the PCM domain. Such losses inaudio quality resulting from multiple encode/decodes using low bit ratecodecs like EAAC Plus are well known in the field and are commonlyreferred to as the tandem coding losses. Another objective in serverside cross-fade scheme may be to preserve the bit rate of combinedstream since it still needs to be transmitted to the player usingpotentially bandwidth limited channels. Thus, a server side compresseddomain cross-fade scheme may therefore incorporate the following changesto, and variations on, the above described client side algorithm:

-   -   Sectioning information for the combined scheme need not be        flattened as described above, but rather the sectioning        algorithm inherent in the EAAC Plus codec can be invoked once        again to find the optimum section boundaries and the codebook        selection for the final combined quantized scheme.    -   The process of re-quantization can, for example, be implemented        as an iterative scheme that maximizes quality while maintaining        the rate constraint. This involves the following iteration for        each scalefactor band:        -   (1) fully inverse quantizing the spectral coefficients from            the two streams and the adding the resulting real values;        -   (2) estimating the total quantization noise power for the            two streams in the scalefactor band using a model for the            non-linear quantizer used in EAAC Plus;        -   (3) iteratively finding a new scalefactor for the            scalefactor band such that the resulting quantization noise            for the combined (summed) spectral coefficients will be less            than the total quantization noise power estimates; and        -   (4) estimating the overall bit demand for all the            scalefactor bands and if it is found to be outside the            acceptable bands adjusting the quantization noise power            targets and repeating (3) for once again for all the bands            in which these targets have been modified.            Compressed Domain Crossfade with Other Codecs or Mixed Codec            Streams

In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, using the variouscombination principles as described above in the context of EAAC Plusalgorithms, it is also possible to affect a compressed domain cross fadebetween two MP3 streams, for example, or between streams encoded usingdifferent types of codecs such as, for example, one stream being in EAACPlus and another one (or more) being in the MP3 format.

Accordingly, FIG. 12 shows a high level embodiment of an exemplaryscheme for the MP3 codec. Because MP3 uses a multi-stage filterbank witha first stage of 32 frequency band split following by adaptivesubsequent split for each of the 32 bands with variable time resolution,the scheme needs to work according the chosen time-frequency resolutionin each of the 32 bands for the two streams. At a high level the schemeworks as follows: initially a time aligned pair and weights of streams 1and 2 can be obtained, as described above with reference to FIG. 6, at1210; then, at 1220 packet pairs P(1,i) and P(2,j) can, for example,both be partially demultiplexed; next at 1230 the 32 bands of the MP3first stage filterbank can be analyzed, resulting in three possibleoutcomes: (i) In any of the 32 bands, if both the streams are found tohave identical time-frequency resolution then a scheme that isqualitatively identical to the AAC Core combination algorithm can bedirectly applied, as at 1241; (ii) In a band where the dominant schemeis using higher time resolution, the information from the dominantscheme is chosen and the information from the softer stream packet isdiscarded as at 1243; and (iii) In a band where the softer scheme (interms of signal strength) has higher time resolution, a mapped(averaged) information derived from the softer stream is added to thedominant scheme information to generate the composite information, as at1245. Finally, from 1241, 1243 and 1245, as the case may be, processingcontinues to 1250 where the composite MP3 packet can be assembled, andfrom there such MP3 composite packet can be output, as shown at 1260.

Exemplary Implementations

Any suitable programming language can be used to implement the routinesof particular exemplary embodiments including, but not limited to, thefollowing: C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, CoffeeScript,assembly language, etc. Different programming techniques can be employedsuch as procedural or object oriented. The routines can execute on asingle processing device or multiple processors. Although the steps,operations, or computations may be presented in a specific order, thisorder may be changed in different particular embodiments. In someparticular embodiments, multiple steps shown as sequential in thisspecification can be performed at the same time

Particular embodiments may be implemented in a computer-readable storagedevice or non-transitory computer readable medium for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, system, ordevice. Particular embodiments can be implemented in the form of controllogic in software or hardware or a combination of both. The controllogic, when executed by one or more processors, may be operable toperform that which is described in particular embodiments.

Particular embodiments may be implemented by using a programmed generalpurpose digital computer, by using application specific integratedcircuits, programmable logic devices, field programmable gate arrays,optical, chemical, biological, quantum or nanoengineered systems,components and mechanisms may be used. In general, the functions ofparticular embodiments can be achieved by any means as is known in theart. Distributed, networked systems, components, and/or circuits can beused. Communication, or transfer, of data may be wired, wireless, or byany other means.

It will also be appreciated that one or more of the elements depicted inthe drawings/figures can also be implemented in a more separated orintegrated manner, or even removed or rendered as inoperable in certaincases, as is useful in accordance with a particular application. It isalso within the spirit and scope to implement a program or code that canbe stored in a machine-readable medium, such as a storage device, topermit a computer to perform any of the methods described above.

As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow,“a”, “an”, and “the” includes plural references unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein andthroughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and“on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

While there have been described methods for implementing efficientcross-fading between compressed audio streams, it is to be understoodthat many changes may be made therein without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention. Insubstantial changes from the claimedsubject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, noknown or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalentlywithin the scope of the claims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now orlater known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to bewithin the scope of the defined elements. The described embodiments ofthe invention are presented for the purpose of illustration and not oflimitation

The above-presented description and accompanying figures are intended byway of example only and are not intended to limit the present inventionin any way except as set forth in the following claims. It isparticularly noted that persons skilled in the art can readily combinethe various technical aspects of the various exemplary embodimentsdescribed into a wide variety of techniques, systems and methods, allbeing encompassed within the present invention. For the sake of clarity,it is noted that the term “crossfade” includes any transition, blend orinterstitial effect implemented on or near a boundary between twosuccessive content clips or files provided in a content delivery serviceor method.

What is claimed:
 1. A method for implementing efficient cross-fadingbetween compressed audio streams, comprising: obtaining parameters for across-fade between N audio streams comprising compressed packets; timealigning the packets from each stream that are involved in thecross-fade; synthesizing composite compressed packets containinginformation derived from the N streams; and presenting the compositecompressed packets to an audio decoder during a cross-fade phase.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein N=2, and said presenting compressed packetsto an audio decoder includes multiplexing each of the streams and thesynthesized composite compressed packets according to a time index, asfollows: Fort less than or equal to T1, Stream 1; Fort greater than T1but less than or equal to T2, synthesized composite compressed packets;For t greater than T2, Stream2.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein eachstream is encoded with EAAC Plus, and said time aligning the packets isperformed by estimating the time instance for an (i+1)^(th) frame in thestream as:t(i+1)=(i*2048*number_of_raw_data_blocks_in_frame)/sampling_frequency 4.The method of claim 1, wherein each stream is encoded with EAAC Plus,and said time aligning the packets is performed by estimating the timeinstance for an (i+1)^(th) frame in the stream by keeping a cumulativeestimate of the total number of raw data blocks till the i^(th) frame asfollows:${{total\_ number}{\_ of}{\_ raw}{\_ data}{\_ blocks}{\_ in}{\_ frame}_{i}} = {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{k = i}{{number\_ of}{\_ raw}{\_ data}{\_ blocks}{\_ in}{\_ frame}_{k}}}$and estimating:${t\left( {i + 1} \right)}^{\prime} = \frac{\left( {2048*{total\_ number}{\_ of}{\_ raw}{\_ data}{\_ blocks}{\_ in}{\_ frame}_{i}} \right)}{sampling\_ frequency}$5. The method of claim 1, wherein said time aligning is performed byoperating upon data in a frame header of the stream.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein each stream is encoded with EAAC Plus, and said dataincludes one or more of: sampling_frequency_index, frame_length,adts_buffer_fullness, and number_of_raw_data_blocks_in_frame.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said synthesizing composite compressedpackets includes decomposing the data from each stream into itscomponents, and separately combining each group of respectivecomponents.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein N=2, and wherein eachstream is encoded with EAAC Plus, and wherein packet pairs P(1,i) andP(2,j) can be both partially demultiplexed to identify threesubcomponents, AAC Core, SBR, and PS, and wherein the respectivesubcomponents are combined to generate the composite subcomponents. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein different combination strategies are usedfor the three subcomponents.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein for theSBR and PS subcomponents an AB decision can be made favoring thedominating stream at any given instance, and wherein for the AAC Coresubcomponent a more complex combination algorithm is employed.
 11. Themethod of any of claims 7-10, wherein the composite subcomponent packetsare combined to produce a full composite bitstream packet.
 12. A methodfor implementing efficient cross-fading between compressed audio inputstreams, comprising: identifying a set of frames from each input streamassociated with the time interval in which a cross fade; decoding saidset, combining packetwise and recoding with a cross fade or othereffect.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the only input data that isdecoded and processed is that associated with the portion of each streamused in the crossfade, blend or other interstitial, and the remainingdata from the input streams is left compressed.
 14. A non-transitorycomputer readable medium containing instructions that, when executed byat least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing deviceto: obtain parameters for a cross-fade between N audio streamscomprising compressed packets; time align the packets from each streamthat are involved in the cross-fade; synthesize composite compressedpackets containing information derived from the N streams; and presentthe composite compressed packets to an audio decoder during a cross-fadephase.
 15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14,wherein N=2, and said presenting compressed packets to an audio decoderincludes multiplexing each of the streams and the synthesized compositecompressed packets according to a time index, as follows: Fort less thanor equal to T1, Stream 1; Fort greater than T1 but less than or equal toT2, synthesized composite compressed packets; For t greater than T2,Stream2.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14,wherein each stream is encoded with EAAC Plus, and said time aligningthe packets is performed by estimating the time instance for an(i+1)^(th) frame in the stream as:t(i+1)=(i*2048*number_of_raw_data_blocks_in_frame)/sampling_frequency17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, whereineach stream is encoded with EAAC Plus, and said time aligning thepackets is performed by estimating the time instance for an (i+1)^(th)frame in the stream by keeping a cumulative estimate of the total numberof raw data blocks till the i^(th) frame as follows:${{total\_ number}{\_ of}{\_ raw}{\_ data}{\_ blocks}{\_ in}{\_ frame}_{i}} = {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{k = i}{{number\_ of}{\_ raw}{\_ data}{\_ blocks}{\_ in}{\_ frame}_{k}}}$and estimating:${t\left( {i + 1} \right)}^{\prime} = {\frac{\left( {2048*{total\_ number}{\_ of}{\_ raw}{\_ data}{\_ blocks}{\_ in}{\_ frame}_{i}} \right)}{sampling\_ frequency}.}$18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, whereinsaid time aligning is performed by operating upon data in a frame headerof the stream.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim18, wherein each stream is encoded with EAAC Plus, and said dataincludes one or more of: sampling_frequency_index, frame_length,adts_buffer_fullness, and number_of_raw_data_blocks_in_frame.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein saidsynthesizing composite compressed packets includes decomposing the datafrom each stream into its components, and separately combining eachgroup of respective components. 21.-28. (canceled)